Dead Realization
by Northwoman
Summary: This is my story for Northman Maille / Alisonby Numbers. It is mostly canon. Totally fluffy but hey anything to focus on Eric.


A/N: I had an idea for a one shot months ago but Bellawriter7 helped me change it to fit this "challenge" of sorts to give our very best wishes to Ali. Alison is often the light of my day and I hope these stories will give her some of that same light she brings to us.

Math Princess approved the idea, wrote the beginning three paragraphs for me so I could get started and agreed to be my beta, she is awesome. I am so happy to have her in my life. Onefee27 also checked this over and gave her suggestions for improvement. I enjoy her so much. Sapfirerose gave it the final approval before posting.

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I sat in my friend Alison's hospital room, hoping she would wake from her nap soon. She'd been so sick lately, and I wanted to see for myself that she was on the mend.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, she started to rouse. When she saw me, she sat up abruptly. "Sookie! What are you doing here?"

"Don't be silly, Alison," I said. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't come visit you in the hospital? You've been such a great friend of mine - you'd do the same for me."

She smiled, leaning back. "So how are things with you these days?" She raised her eyebrows and looked at me closely. "And how are things with Eric?"

I bit my lip and looked thoughtful. "Things are getting back to normal, as much as they can, after the whole debacle with Appius and Alexei. Eric is adjusting quickly to being without a maker. The next big dilemma is Victor, as you well know."

"Yes, yes, but what about you and Eric? You were so afraid to hear how he felt about you. Then he told you about Victor abducting him and you've told each other that what you feel for each other is love. Yet you have still been concerned about the bond, I know."

I took a breath and let it out. "Yes, you know I told Eric that I would be only with him until I figured out if the bond was all we had."

"Sookie, if the bond is permanent, it is part of your reality. You have said that you love Eric. Tell me what he means to you, how did he become part of your life?"

"Well, I met him when Bill took me to Fangtasia to look into those murders where my brother was a suspect. I thought he was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen." I giggled. "Also an arrogant ass. But as time went on, I came to trust him and he did so much for me."

"So what exactly has he done for you, Sookie?"

"Oh, so much. Let me see. He wanted me as soon as he met me. He killed Longshadow, a partner in his business, when Longshadow was going to kill me. When I was in the hospital, not even because of any vampire thing, he sent me these obscene flowers and came to check on me himself. He hardly knew me then."

"He arranged for my healing after I was attacked by a maenad with a message for him. I thought it was his fault and that he needed to say more than just that he was sorry. He said, 'Angelic Sookie, vision of love and beauty, I am prostrate the wicked evil maenad violated your smooth and voluptuous body, in an attempt to deliver a message to me.' He was surprised that I knew what maenads were, telling me I had unexpected depths."

"When I did a job in Dallas and got beaten up, he carried me to my room after I escaped the fellowship, offered to help me into the tub. I ruined his shirt and suit, the beginning of a longstanding tradition as well as the one of him telling me not to cry." I sniggered. "Eric, the big bad vampire, is afraid of weeping women. He worked hard to get all the glass out of my arm, put antiseptic on it. He listened to what happened to me, and then said he was glad I was not raped and killed. Later, when the Fellowship attacked Stan's house, he laid on top of me to protect me, taking a bullet for me. He had me suck out the bullet to get his blood in me, the bullshitter. I saved the bullet for some reason. Eric kissed me for the first time then. Bill had run off to feed in his bloodlust, not even bothering to protect me."

"And then I asked him to go to the orgy with me." I laughed out loud and so did Alison. "He likes to call that our first date. He was so fun, talking to me when I was getting ready. I needed to go to find out who killed Lafayette and I trusted him. I even told him I trusted him. He held me and kissed me while I listened to all those awful thoughts." I shivered, remembering, "I remember him saying to relax, that he had me. I had even asked him to pretend to be gay. Eric in spandex is something to behold and his kisses should be come with a fire extinguisher." I remembered how pleasurable it was and could feel my eyes twinkling.

Alison raised an eyebrow, "You were kissing Eric, claiming you loved Bill?"

"Oh yeah, any chance to kiss Eric is not to be missed." I teased, laughing again, but then I let out a breath. "Then the maenad came and Eric held his hand over my mouth to try to keep me from screaming. I bit his hand and that was the second time I had his blood."

"The next thing was he sent Bubba to protect me one night when Bill was missing. Bubba ended up killing a werewolf outside Merlotte's to save me. Eric came to talk to me, and just got into bed with me. I was so mad when I woke up and asked what he was doing. He said he was snuggling. He told me about how Bill was with Lorena and was going to pension me off. Eric needed to get Bill and his work back for the Queen. But instead of torturing me for information or lying to manipulate me, he was honest with me and asked for my help, admitted he was very fond of me and rubbed his cheek against mine." I giggled. "He claimed he didn't want to damage my skin since he planned to see all of it one day."

"That sounds like Eric to me!" teased Alison.

"When I got staked in Jackson, he went with me to Russell's even though it was dangerous for him, helped me to forget my pain. He gave me his blood so I would be strong and got a car so I could leave after I saved Bill. Then he had to save me from Bill when Debbie locked me in the trunk with him. Eric took me home, taking another couple of bullets for me when the Weres grabbed me. He and Bill got rid of the eight Weres. When I got up the next day, my driveway was all fixed with new gravel."

"Wasn't all of this when you were with Bill? Before you and Eric were together at all?" Alison asked.

I took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "Yes. Right after that is when Eric was cursed and didn't know who he was. I don't know if that was the _real_ Eric just with the vampire politics stripped away or what. He was so kind, listening to me, giving me support and comfort when my brother was missing. Hmmm, you know….. the vampire shit wasn't really missing at all. Eric was being hunted by those crazy witches; his people still looked to him to make decisions; and there was a whole witch-Were war he had to fight. But he was most concerned with me, our relationship, what I was feeling; he put me first."

"After the curse was lifted, he didn't remember our time together until later, after the de Castro takeover. Even so, he insisted that I be paid significantly more than my brother negotiated. When he came to talk to me, he knew things had happened that I wasn't telling him. He was there when Amanda came to ask me about Debbie Pelt. He didn't know that he took the bullet that she meant to kill me with and then he was the one that got rid of her body and car. He found brain tissue on my coat, so he suggested I burn it and the next day sent me a new, top brand cranberry coat."

"After that I was always so flippant with him, because I remembered and he didn't. My sarcasm was a defense mechanism to cover the hurt I felt at …. at losing him. I had to go ask him for help when Sam got shot. Eric complimented me on my nail polish, noticing the one thing that was new about me, and he was concerned that I was close to Sam when he was shot. Even though shifters were being targeted, Eric was thinking of me being in danger. He sent Charles Twining to help out with the bar, but also to try to protect me. Of course, Charles was sent to hurt Eric, but Eric couldn't know that. As soon as he figured I might be in danger he sent Bubba to warn me and then came himself as fast as possible. His first words were asking if I was alright. He went on to actually share with me that the reason Charles tried to kill me was the affection he believed Eric had for me."

"There was also the whole thing with Mickey and Tara around that time. Tara was trying to get rid of him and she asked if Eric could help. She told me that everyone said that Eric had a thing for me. I had to try to help her so I called Eric and in return for him helping I had to tell him about the time he stayed with me. He came right over to my temporary place, not even knowing what the favor was. He was so happy that I was going to have to tell him about when he stayed with me. So I told him and I was all worried about that he would hold Debbie Pelt over my head, but what he wanted to know was how I responded when he offered to leave everything to be with me."

Alison wasn't about to let that statement go. "So Eric's key concern was your feelings, whether you would accept his offer of being with you?"

I scowled. "That is how it seems. He got hurt when Mickey came to attack me, but luckily I remembered to rescind Mickey's invitation after Tara was safe inside. Eric complimented on my clear thinking. He even offered to give his blood to Tara. I know that was for me, since he didn't know Tara, and no one else had his blood after Pam until me. Eric actually scolded Tara for putting me in danger."

Alison looked at me sharply, "All of this was without Eric remembering and before the bond?"

Now I felt mad, probably because she was right about both of those things. "Yes… yes, that's true."

Alison was grinning like she had won the lottery. I glared at her a moment and when she said nothing else, I continued my story. "After that, Eric didn't talk to me much. He did show up the night I was to have my first date with Quinn. He was mad, very angry. But when I went to clear out Hadley's apartment in New Orleans, he also went to New Orleans and came to the hospital when I was bitten by Jake Purifoy. I told him he had no responsibility to me, but he said he did because I'd had his blood and we'd made love often. I called it sex when I had to tell him what happened; he called it making love at the hospital. When Bill showed up, Eric made him tell me the truth about why he had moved back to Bon Temps. Eric tells me the truth; when he shares with me it is the truth."

Alison just smiled. "Well, honesty is very important in a relationship, right? Bill certainly wasn't honest with you until Eric forced him to be."

"No. After that, Eric tracked me when Quinn and I were kidnapped by the Pelts. That had to be hard for him, since he knew I was seeing Quinn and he hated it. But he still protected me, and supported me during the conversation with Debbie's family. Although, he also found out then that I had fairy blood and felt it explained a lot. I took it to mean that it was my blood he found special, not me, but we were interrupted and didn't get to discuss that further. Later, at the party for Peter Threadgill and Sophie-Anne LeClerq when the fighting broke out, he covered me with his body again to protect me."

I snorted. "And he kissed me again. He was happy about that and the fight. Eric loves a good fight. I was already tasked to go to Rhodes for the vampire summit but it became more necessary for me to testify at Sophie-Anne's trial there. At the meeting before the summit, he praised my ability and supported my claims that there might be a weather witch who had predicted a hurricane, after which Louisiana might be in worse shape, which turned out to be the case. He made sure that I had clothes for the summit without feeling like I was getting special treatment."

Alison frowned. "That was a frightening time for you, right before Rhodes. You were worried about your association with vampires and things were already convoluted between you and Eric.

"Pam came to Merlotte's to say that Eric was all entangled by his emotions about me and for me to have mercy on him. Eric showed up as she was finishing talking to me. He kissed me, as he always does. We talked about why he had Bill tell me about his mission and how he didn't know why he ended up on the road to my house when he was cursed. Then I said tried to say it was the fairy blood, but Eric said no very definitely and left. "

Alison shook her head. "You and Eric were fighting your feelings so hard then."

At Rhodes, Eric bonded with me so I wouldn't have to be bonded to Andre. He could feel how unhappy I was about the situation and he proposed that he bond to me instead. He told Andre that I heeled nicely." I grimaced remembering this.

Alison smiled. "He _chose_ to bond with you, to protect you, because he cared about you, even before then."

"Umm, yes. He wrapped me in his cloak for more privacy and he made it as easy for me as he could. He came to stay with me when I found the soda can bomb, he tried to take it from me. He gave me strength somehow during the trial, coming to stand next to me. Later, Eric danced with me which was great fun. He got mad at me dancing with Barry, though; he was so… possessive, a real caveman attitude."

Alison smirked at me, "He isn't _that _old."

"Then I didn't see him for awhile because of the bombing at Rhodes. I was adjusting to the fact that every time I saw Eric I felt happy and safe. He called to take me to meet my great-grandfather. Before we went into the restaurant he told me I looked beautiful and kissed me. He introduced me to Niall and then went outside to give us privacy, but he stayed to protect me if needed. Eric managed to rein in his instincts when I came back smelling of fairy, and then he told me what he knew about fairies. On the way back from the meeting, we got stopped by a Were pretending to be a cop. The Were tried to shoot me and as usual, Eric took the bullet, saving me yet again. Oh, and he kissed me again."

"So according to my count, that would be the fifth bullet he took for you, Sookie? One in Dallas, two and three from the Jackson Weres, number four from Debbie Pelt and this one from the Were pretending to be a cop? How many humans do you suppose Eric takes bullets for?"

"My guess would be none other than me." I gave Alison a sarcastic smile, knowing very well the point she was trying to make. Pam had also tried to make that point at times.

"Eric did try to figure out if it was Weres or fairies afterwards. He told me to call him if I had problems because he would defend me if there was a Were war. Later because of that and the vampire Jonathon who talked to me at Halleigh's wedding, Eric had Pam staying at the house more with Amelia and me. He actually told me about the queen's recovery and how the sheriffs were running things, but thought there might be a takeover. Eric came to my house and was there for the takeover. After the surrender, he remembered our time together. So after that night, he is always calling me Lover again." I rolled my eyes.

Alison laughed. "Sounds wonderful to me."

"The next day he sent me a new cell phone with six months paid and had a new door put on my house. Both items were casualties of the takeover. He just took care of it, without me saying anything. Eric is really good about things like that. Later, when Sam called Eric because I was upset about having to break Calvin Norris' fingers, Eric came even though he had the King in Shreveport. Eric even stayed outside waiting for me until I got off work. He talked to me, sharing things going on in his life."

"Eric pledged with me and we started spending some time together. One night I just went to Fangtasia; I just wanted to be with him, not for sex and without the drama. He told me that they found Hallow's spell book, that the curse was for him to be close to his heart's desire without realizing it."

Alison looked shocked, then like she might burst, "So you were his heart's desire, before you ever had sex, before he stayed with you and before the bond?"

I continued on like I hadn't heard her. "You know most of the rest after that time. During the fairy war, Victor kept him from coming to save me. He was able to call Niall and Bill first, though and then come to give me blood and protect me in the battle at the hospital." Now I sat silently, thinking of all I had told to Alison. She waited patiently.

"Eric has really done so much for me and consistently been there, more than anyone in my life."

Alison smiled. "He was there, before the memory loss, and before the bonding. You are his heart's desire."

My mouth fell open and I felt a bit shocked. "Yes, ….I love him. I liked him before the amnesia incident when I fell in love with him, and that _was _before we were bonded. We were in love before we bonded! Neither of us wanted to admit it but we were!"

Alison was trying hard not to laugh. "So what are you going to do about it?"

I felt a big grin spread across my face. "I need to go talk to Eric and he should be up soon." I jumped up to leave. "Thank you Alison, I just needed to remember things."

"See you later, Sookie. Good luck, kiss the Viking for me!"

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I went home, slipped off all my clothes and crawled into bed with Eric, just in time. I was buzzing with the realization of all the things Eric had done for me, even before he remembered our time together and before we bonded.

Eric's eyes opened and he looked at me with shock and then grinned widely. "You are _very _happy and …" now his face got serious, "loving. What did you do today, Lover?"

"Eric, I went to visit my wonderful friend, Alison, in the hospital. She knows that I had concerns," I put my hand on his face, looking into his eyes, sending love to him, "about the bond and whether it was all we had. She got me to talk about us, before the bonding. I realized all the things you did for me before and how I felt before. I didn't give you credit for some of them because of others who betrayed me. You were honest with me and protected me, more than anyone else. But I know that I loved you before the bond; I just never wanted to admit. I was afraid you couldn't really love me."

"Lover, I struggled with my feelings, not having had these type of feelings for so many years. You caused me to feel things that perhaps I never felt, even as a human. But as you point out, it is clear that I loved you whether I wanted to admit it or not."

Eric and I smiled at each other, the love was swelling in the bond. I thought I would burst with it; then he kissed me, so tenderly, taking me into his arms. The next thing I knew Eric was kissing his way down my body, laving my nipples, sucking and nipping them. My nipples felt so hard and sensitized by his attentions.

"Lover, watch me" he commanded, as he continued downward until he was between my legs and I was grasping his hair, moving wildly at the hot feel of his tongue in my most private parts. He worked me with his tongue and then his fingers until I whimpered with little cries of desire. Our eyes were focused on each other. I jerked hard, screaming his name loudly.

Eric turned his face and bit my thigh, causing me to release again.. God, it was a good thing Eric didn't need to breathe or feel any shame when it came to sex. In fact – I felt myself smiling - there it was - that smug feeling he had at giving me amazing orgasms.

I was completely wrecked, trying to catch my breath, even as Eric moved to cover my body with his; I moaned with pleasure as he slid into me. Naturally, I wrapped my legs around him and wove my hands into his hair as he kissed me deeply. I could taste myself, as his tongue stroked mine. Now Eric's thrusts were slow, hard and deep. He looked into my eyes as he made love to me pouring his feelings into the bond. I sent my love and lust back to him. We moved steadily together until I exploded with our passion. Eric shuddered and came as I tried to breathe again.

We collapsed and were still for a few moments, then Eric moved behind me to pull me against his chest, which was our favorite way to snuggle and sleep. I was so tired I was out nearly as soon as his arms were around me.

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Alison was asleep when I silently walked into her room. It was very late at night, or more accurately, early morning. It took her a moment, but when she felt my presence, she turned toward me, her eyes tracing up my tall frame to my face.

I watched her and said, quietly, "How are you, Alison?"

"I'm waking up. Is everything ok, is Sookie alright?"

I smiled. "Sookie is sleeping now. I wanted to thank you for being such a good friend to listen to her, helping her to sort through her feelings."

"I want you to be happy."

"We are and we will be. Thank you again, Alison." I bent to give her a kiss on the cheek and I left.


End file.
